


Dark Sun

by Nightflower (Blue_Night)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Space, Ancient Technology, Aristocracy, Captivity, Castles, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Explicit sexual content, Falling In Love, Fate, Lost history, M/M, Mates, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Medieval culture, Nine Domains, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spaceships, elements from Perry Rhodan, inspired by some of my other stories and fandoms, loosely based on Marion Zimmer-Bradley's Darkover series, lost colony, trust/mistrust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-05-06 04:15:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/pseuds/Nightflower
Summary: Captain Daniel Spark is sent out with his Space Fighter to discover new planets that can be colonized. When he lands on a planet that belongs to a dark-red sun, he is captured by a fascinating man with black hair and silver-gray eyes. James McBride is the Mormear of the first one of Celtia's Nine Domains, and he is not pleased about the stranger who has fallen down from the sky, bringing unknown technology into his world. But fate seems to have planned this, and Daniel's sleeping second gender awakes when he comes closer to James during his captivity, something he'd never thought possible because the ability to present with a second gender has died out on Earth a long time ago.Will Daniel be able to make James see the truth that Celtia is one of Earth's lost colonies before James' opponent Anndra Pitark has gained enough power to attack the Tristone Domain and bring it under his control - or will fate separate them again before they have become true mates?





	1. The Landing

**Author's Note:**

> I'm stuck with _**Dark Nights**_ at the moment, and I had the idea to this story with my favorite original characters Daniel and James in mind for a rather long time, so I thought that I'd give it a try. This story is inspired by the books about Darkover and Perry Rhodan I've grown up with, by my two main fandoms and stories I've written for them. I changed the names of the real places or titles like Tristone - _Castle Trifels_ really exists - and _'Mormear'_ is my changed version of the old Scottish title _'Mormaer'_.  
>  I also have come to love writing A/B/O, so this story is an A/B/O story, even though the focus won't be on this topic alone.
> 
> I hope that the versions of Daniel and James in this story will be likeable, please let me know if you enjoy reading this story, feedback is my biggest motivation to continue writing and posting for you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Daniel Spark discovers a dark-red sun in a strange nebula, and this sun has actually four planets, one of them sending out life signs. Daniel is determined to find out who's living in this world, but the landing doesn't go like he wanted it to go...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing James and Daniel, and combining some of my favorite topics like sci fi, castles and ABO in one story seemed to be a good idea. :-)

The howling noises of the wind blowing in between the rugged cliffs were the only sounds audible next to the roaring of the boiling waters where the huge waves surged against the dark rocks.

They sounded as if an entire horde of at least hundred hounds were racing through the pitch-black night, but the lonely man standing on top of the highest cliff seemed to be unfazed by the howling and the storm raging over the promontory, a motionless gray figure in the darkness.

James Arthur McBride didn't know what had woken him up shortly before midnight, but he had soon realized that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again, and so he had gotten up and dressed, finding his way to the salient as he followed the inaudible whisper in his head that called out for him, luring him out of the ancient fortress that protected the first Domain of Celtia since the beginning.

His short coat was billowing around his shoulders, but James didn't feel the harsh wind or the icy-cold drops of the sea spray on his cheeks, staring at the horizon with narrowed eyes like a marble statue that had been placed there to warn every fool trying to approach Castle Tristone from this side that they were doomed to perish in the endless depths of Celtia's sea.

So many ships had sunken here right before the ragged coast over the decades and centuries, bursting where the storm had thrown them against the cliffs, the screams and cries of their crews even audible behind the thick walls of the mighty castle sitting enthroned on top of the tall rocks. The last ship James remembered going down in a stormy night like this one had sunken when he'd still been a boy, and no other Domain had been foolhardy enough to try and attack the Tristone Domain from the seaside again ever since that fateful night. Something strange hidden in the rocks seemed to attract even the biggest ships, making it impossible for them to ever escape the forceful pulling again, sealing the fate of those who thought that they could defeat nature.

James knew the stories people told each other, stories about beautiful sirens and horrible monsters crawling out of their caves and hiding places somewhere in the cliffs when the storm came, luring poor sailors into their traps, but the tall Mormear of Tristone didn't believe in such stories. Sirens and monsters didn't exist, and stories about them were only meant to scare young children and keep them away from the dangerous rocks and cliffs of James' homeland. He hadn't believed in those stories when he'd still been a small boy, and he wouldn't start to believe in them now, no matter how much the howling of the wind and the roaring of the sea sounded like the screams of a huge monster. James had sailed before the coast with his own ship many times, and nothing had ever happened to him and his crew. James knew the sea by heart, he knew where the dangerous shoals and rocks hidden under the water surface were, and his ship was light and maneuverable where the others had been heavy and ponderous.

A sudden bright flash racing along in the dark sky drew James' attention, and the Mormear of Tristone shaded his eyes with his hand to protect them from the wind, following the flash ghosting high up in the sky above the promontory until it vanished in between the thick black clouds that loomed over the land where the forests bordering his Domain began. The whisper in his head became louder and more urgent, making him wish to search for the source of the white flash.

“There is nothing, James, don't be stupid. You're already seeing ghosts,” the lord with the thick black hair and the silver-gray eyes murmured aloud to drown out the strange voice in his mind, turning around on his heels to go back to his castle. “It was only a fallen star,” he told himself grimly as he strode forward with fast steps, trying to believe his own words – even though his instincts told him that there was something odd going on, something that was much more dangerous than a fallen star. The murmur in his head didn't stop, sounding pleading and demanding at the same time, and James angrily accelerated his footsteps until he was almost running, only stopping when he finally reached the small side-gate.

“Lord McBride! Is everything alright with you?” Lewis, the commander of his guard, asked when he opened the gate for his Mormear, and James forced his feet to slow down, nodding briefly at the other man.

“Send for Joe and Shane and wake someone up to saddle Thunder,” the dark-haired Mormear of Tristone ordered his head-guard without bothering to explain himself further, his commanding voice and his strong Alpha vibes not allowing the younger one to utter any protest against his order. Lew was a strong Alpha himself, but he simply acknowledged James' superiority with a nod of his own, turning around to head in the direction of the stables.

James watched him leave before turning around and heading to the palas to change and grab his weapons. Times were uncertain, the peace between Celtia's Nine Domains fragile. The last war between the Domains had almost destroyed Celtia, but not all of the nine Mormears were caring about the well-being of their subjects and the destruction and harm another war would cause, craving to gain more power and bring the other Domains under their sway. Anndra Pitark, Mormear of Ravennest, was only waiting for the chance to capture James and claim the Tristone Domain, but the older lord wouldn't dare to attack James on his own land when he had his weapons and two of his best fighters with him. Lord Pitark's men still respected the laws and the peace treaty that had been concluded between the Domains more than ten years ago - opposite to their ruler - and Anndra stood no chance against three skilled warriors when he was alone and had to fight against James without his own best warriors.

The Tristone-Domain, the Ravennest-Domain and the Lindelborn-Domain were the oldest of the Nine Domains of Celtia, and James knew that Anndra Pitark hadn't given up his plans to conquer the Lindelborn-Domain and the Tristone-Domain to become the most powerful Mormear of the known world.

But this was nothing that would keep James from leaving his castle and ride into the thick forests to search for whatever it was that called out for him so urgently. Anndra Pitark was a Beta and not an Alpha like James himself, and he didn't possess his dominant aura or his strength, having to gain the loyalty of his men with money and punishments. He ruled over his Domain by spreading fear and mistrust instead of winning the love and trust of his subjects, oppressing his people and ignoring the old laws whenever it served his purpose to gain more power.

The bright white flash had disappeared somewhere in the forests that bordered both domains – probably close to the border itself - and James really needed to find the source of the strange lightning before Pitark did, sensing that it was important for Celtia's future and all the people living in the Nine Domains.

Just half an hour after his return the tall Mormear of Tristone left the large fortress again, his short coat blowing after him when he galloped through the storm on Thunder's back followed by two of his best fighters, three dark figures racing over the stony ground until the dark night finally swallowed them.

 

***

 

Captain Daniel Spark read the data flickering over the screen with a frown, his fingers flying over the console of his Space Fighter as he set up the new course of his small ship.

The young pilot with the cognac-colored hair and the green-golden eyes was aware that he shouldn't put too much distance between himself and his mother ship, but the data was truly unusual and interesting, and Daniel was curious and adventurous by nature, unable to resist the temptation to explore the large nebula that lay only thirty light years ahead of his Space Fighter. It was a distance that would take him two hours to cross hyper space and get there, but the nebula was still within range, even for his rather small ship that had to drop out of hyper space for a few minutes every ten light years to recover from the radiation. The signals he received from somewhere inside the red, white, yellow and blue shimmering nebula indicated that there were at least nine suns hidden in this cluster, definitely worthy to be explored and checked more closely.

Daniel hoped that some of the stars had planets as well, and he pressed his lips to a determined line, typing a quick message for his mother ship, the _Borushia_ , and her Commander Harry Grant. The _Borushia_ had been sent out to discover this unknown region of the galaxy and find planets that could be colonized, and there were too few stars with planets to miss this chance and ignore the cluster. The captain with the shiny cognac-colored hair was happy about every opportunity to prove himself, and the fascinating nebula seemed to be a good chance to do that after his unsuccessful mission two days ago.

Daniel didn't even wait for an answer to his short and rather vague message but accelerated his ship until it was fast enough to open the window to hyper space, and only two minutes later his Space Fighter disappeared from the screens in _Borushia's_ control room, leaving only a small stripe of radiation behind that vanished quickly in the broad expanse of space.

 

***

 

Daniel had never seen a sun like this one, a huge dark red glowing ball in the middle of his front screen. It wasn't only because of the visual filter that made sure that the pilot of the Space Fighter wouldn't go blind, it was the sun itself that was darker than most of the other suns Daniel had ever seen in his whole life – and it had been many stars since his first flight with a space ship as Earth's youngest pilot ever.

“Dark Sun, this name really suits you,” Daniel murmured fascinated, and he couldn't suppress a small shiver that ran down on his spine all of a sudden. He felt almost hypnotized at the sight of the sun growing bigger with every kilometer Daniel flew in its direction, and only the loud beep of his mass detector pulled him out of his dazed state.

“You actually have planets, Dark Sun. Now that's truly interesting, I really didn't expect that this could be possible.” Daniel had already cataloged the other eight suns he'd found in the nebula, Dark Sun had been the last one, lying on the other side of the loose cluster. The nebula contained a big blue star, a small red one, two white dwarves and four normal yellow suns, and two of them had three planets circling around them in a very tight orbit that didn't allow any form of life to grow on them.

His fingers flew over his console again, and Daniel held his breath as he waited for the information about this unique solar system to show up. Dark Sun had four planets, a small rocky desert, two methane giants and a planet of the size of Earth. Daniel felt a soft flutter in his stomach when he checked the second Earth-sized planet more closely, shaking his head in irritation because there was suddenly a strange, almost inaudible whisper in his head, together the overwhelming urge to fly closer to the dark-red sun tearing at his mind, making his fingers move over the blinking buttons on his console again of their own will.

When the information finally came, Daniel gasped out, flinching at the sound of his own voice. “This is unbelievable! How can that be?” he croaked out, checking the life-sign detector again. The young captain hadn't thought it possible, but the second planet, circling around Dark Sun in an orbit that granted comfortable temperatures and liquid water, was full of life signs, the lights of the device blinking in a fast rhythm and a bright green light.

There was life on Dark Sun's second planet, and Daniel was determined to find out what kind of life the dark-red sun had allowed to populate one of her worlds.

 

***

 

The Space Fighter approached the second planet much faster than Daniel had intended to fly there, just as if an invisible magnet was attracting his ship. The young captain didn't even have time to send another massage to the _Borushia_ , too busied with avoiding a crash landing on the surface of the planet because of the high speed the small plane was racing through the thick atmosphere with. The crew of his mother ship didn't know where he was, he'd only sent one single short message that he wanted to explore the nebula further; and Commander Grant wouldn't risk entering the unknown formation with his much larger spaceship if he had to believe that something had happened to one of his Space Fighters inside the strange cluster. Harry Grant was an experienced commander, and Earth didn't have enough long-distance spaceships to lose any of them.

Grant would wait until the other Space Fighters would return from their search for habitable planets, and this would take a while. Daniel had been the only one exploring this area, and the young captain focused on bringing his ship down safely and without too much damage instead of trying to send another message to the _Borushia_. He could try to contact his mother ship after the landing – if he was still able to do that then, that is.

The small plane raced through thick black clouds now, and the captain with the green-golden eyes stared at the screen in the attempt to find a place where he could land without crashing his Space Fighter. It was night on this half of the planet, a heavy storm raging as far as the eye could reach, and there was only water beneath him, a large sea that covered half of the surface of this world. Daniel heaved a relieved sigh when mainland finally came into sight, a large continent that reached from the equator to one of the poles. Daniel thought that it was most likely the north pole of the planet, judging by the data he got from the magnetic field surrounding it. High mountains – higher than the highest mountains on Earth – separated the continent into two halves, and Daniel could see that the half behind the huge mountain wall, the one closer to the pole, was more or less only icy wastes and surely not the region where the life signs had come from.

The young captain concentrated his search on the other half of the continent, but his ship was already too close to the surface for him to choose a good place for the landing himself. There was no time left before he would crash, and all Daniel could do was to stabilize the Space Fighter and hope for the best. The gray sea was boiling beneath him, huge waves breaking at the dark cliffs coming nearer far too quickly, and Daniel's lips moved in a silent prayer when he reached the mainland. The cliffs flew by beneath him as his ship lost height and went further down, and he gritted his teeth as he steeled himself for impact when the dark-green canopies of a thick forest filled his screen completely when he'd passed the rocks.

Daniel couldn't tell for sure whether or not he'd actually seen a large building sitting on top of the highest cliff or if it had only been his imagination playing tricks on him, and the next thing he knew was that his plane suddenly slowed down too fast of its own will, almost coming to a complete halt and diving down into the woods as if controlled by invisible hands. Daniel was thrown against the controls of his console, only his safety belt keeping him in his seat, and then everything went dark before he had any chance to react and avoid the crash.


	2. The Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel and James meet for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dear readers,  
> I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this story, but the last months have been straining and filled with real life things and hardships. I hope that you'll still be interested in this story, please let me know if you are and leave a comment or kudos for me! <33

Daniel didn't know how long he had been unconscious when he slowly came back to again with a groan, and he was actually surprised when he opened his eyes and saw the destruction surrounding him. His Space Fighter would never fly again, that much was sure.

His safety belt must have protected him from being thrown through the windscreen, but he had hit the console and damaged it in the process. His jaw and his cheek were hurting where his face had made a painful acquaintance with the hard metal alloy, but Daniel ignored the sharp ache and focused on the damage the crash had caused instead. Everything inside his Space Fighter was dark – at least the parts that were still left of it, and the hatch had been razed by the thick branches and the twigs of the trees.

Daniel's whole body was throbbing with pain, but he could move his limbs and he remembered clearly what had happened before his crash – which was probably a good sign. The young captain groaned again and fumbled with his safety belt for a couple of minutes, heaving a sigh of relief when it finally came off and the pressure on his aching ribs eased. He closed his eyes for a moment to fight against a sudden wave of dizziness, moving a little bit slower and more carefully when the sickness finally faded again. He bent forward and started to check what was left from the controls of his spaceship, but it was to no avail. Nothing worked anymore, and it was unlikely that his Space Fighter could ever be repaired again and fly.

“I'm sorry, lady,” Daniel murmured, “I didn't mean to crash you here on this planet. Let's hope that Commander Grant will send someone after us and find a way to save both of us.” He pushed himself out of his seat and gritted his teeth when another hot wave of pain shot through his skull and his back, but Daniel was experienced enough to sense that he wasn't severely injured except for some bruises and cuts. He could breathe without problems, so his ribs weren't broken and hadn't punctured his lungs, which was the most important thing. He couldn't be sure about any internal bleeding at this point, but he needed to find water and perhaps someone who could help him – even though Daniel didn't think it likely that he would find another human species living in this world.

The life signs he had found before his crash could as well come from dangerous animals that would consider him rather delicious food, but Daniel didn't have any other chance than to at least try and search for the source of these life signs to get the help he'd need until his people had found him. The radio device of his ship was as damaged as the rest of it, and Daniel needed water and something he could eat while he was waiting for the _Borushia_ to send another Space Fighter.

The young captain searched under the damaged console for the small device that worked as a universal translator and a biometric scanner at the same time, and he made a contented sound when it flared to life with small blinking lights and a soft beep when he pressed the start button. “At least I'm not running the risk of poisoning myself now,” he said, climbing out of his damaged vessel with more suppressed groans. “Okay, the cliffs must be in this direction,” he said as he looked around to orientate himself, “I'm not sure whether or not I really saw some kind of building on top of one of them, but it's at least worth a try. Come on, Daniel, you've been in worse situations beforehand. A walk through the wilderness is really not that bad after the long flight.” He didn't have any weapon to defend himself with, only a knife and the small gadget, but one of the branches would serve as a proper stick he could also use as a weapon to keep possible predators at a distance, and everything was better than sitting in his damaged ship and waiting for help that perhaps would never come.

Captain Daniel Spark took one of the long and thick branches his Space Fighter had torn from one of the trees and started to walk in the direction of the gray cliffs, the storm still raging over the canopies of the trees sending a loud thunder after him.

 

***

 

“Lord McBride! Over there!” Shane shouted against the roaring thunder to make himself audible. “”I'm sure that I have seen someone between the trees over there!”

James pulled at Thunder's reins, and his black stallion came to an abrupt halt and turned to the other side where his warrior had pointed at something hidden in between the dark line of the tall trees. Shane and Joe were already circling the spot from two sides, and James pressed his heels into Thunder's flanks to approach the creature that was lurking somewhere in front of him. Nothing was visible now, whatever it was that was hiding itself in the darkness, but James could feel the presence of something or someone unknown waiting for him in the shadows of the small clearing, and he was determined to find out what or who it was.

Thunder reached the line of the trees after five more steps, and James jumped down from his back and patted his backside to send him away. Thunder snorted and galloped a few meters back on the path with flaring nostrils, stopping there and raising his head to take in the scent of the strange presence. James noticed that Thunder didn't seem to be scared though, waiting for his owner to come back to him without trying to run away and surprisingly unfazed by the still raging storm. That was interesting, and so was the pull James felt in his head again. Something was drawing him to the presence waiting for him, and James bared his teeth to a low Alpha growl and crept closer to the trees, his eyes scanning the darkness in front of him as he cornered his prey, knowing instinctively that this night would change his life forever.

 

***

 

Daniel had heard the drumming sounds of hooves clopping on the hard ground for a rather long time, and he stopped at the edge of a small clearing to wait for the animals to come into sight. The fact that they sounded like galloping horses didn't necessarily mean that they actually were galloping horses, they could also be hungry bears or wolves or whatever kind of predators this world had allowed to grow on its surface.

He had the advantage of being able to watch them without being watched himself, but Daniel didn't make the mistake of thinking that he could hide his own presence for longer than a few more minutes. The crash landing of his Space Fighter apparently hadn't gone unnoticed, and it was clear that the inhabitants of this world were heading straight in his direction and the direction where his ship was lying in the forests like a huge stranded whale. Predators normally had good instincts and would smell him long before they could see him, and Daniel grabbed his stick tighter and used one of the thick tree trunks as a cover.

The dark figures of three riders sitting proudly on the back of their horses sent a thrill through him, as this was nothing he'd expected and much more than he could have hoped for. Of course they could be enemies, not willing to hear him out, but this way there was at least the chance to communicate with them and ask for help – which wouldn't have been possible with wild animals.

One of the riders shouted something Daniel couldn't understand because of the growling thunder and the distance, and he quickly pressed the button that would start the translator to be able to talk to them when they had found him. The tallest rider in the middle stopped for a moment while the other two now circled the clearing to corner and trap him, so they obviously knew that he was there. Daniel held his breath and instinctively focused his attention on the one he thought to be the leader of the small group. The horses would always be faster than he could run, and Daniel actually didn't want to escape them but ask for help when he was sure that they wouldn't kill him right away.

The tallest rider – Daniel couldn't be sure about their gender, but something told him that the unknown alien was male – jumped from his beautiful mount after riding in his direction, and Daniel held his breath as he waited for the stranger to reach him. He couldn't detect the features of the other male, but he felt drawn to him like he had never felt drawn to anything or anybody else before – except for the endless space he'd wanted to explore since he'd been a small boy. Daniel still remembered how he had spent countless nights with watching the starry dark sky, feeling a strange yearning he couldn't explain to anyone who'd asked him why he was so obsessed with the stars. All he'd known was that he had to go there and search for the reason of his longing – to find out what or who was waiting for him out there.

Daniel watched the tall dark figure coming closer, and he realized with a sudden clearness that this was the moment he'd waited for all of his life.

 

***

 

He was partly hidden by the trunk of a tall and thick tree, standing motionless and staring in his direction. James approached him slowly with his hand on the hilt of his sword, and he knew that others would call him foolish that he hadn't already pulled it out of its sheath. The strange and unknown intruder on his territory could have attacked him easily with their own weapons long before James had reached them, but they hadn't done that, and his sword wouldn't have protected him from such an attack anyway.

James Arthur McBride, Mormear of Tristone, had always preferred to rely on his senses and his instincts instead of headlessly storming forward with a raised sword like so many other warriors did, and his senses told him that the stranger watching him from the other side of the clearing wasn't about to attack him, but waited for him to make the first move and talk to him.

Shane and Joey had dismounted their horses in the meantime and were now creeping up on him from behind, and his stiff back and the look in his eyes proved to James that he was ready to defend himself against three attackers at the same time if necessary – even if he had only a stick he could use as his own weapon.

James came to a halt when there were perhaps two meters left between them, lifting his left hand to make Joe and Shane stop as well. They did, with their swords in their hands, and James made another step forward, staring at the small blinking device the stranger held in a tight grip. James had never seen anything like this before, and it made him feel anxious although it didn't look like a weapon but more like a technical device.

Had Anndra Pitark been the one creating it, or his scientists? The tall Alpha felt a wave of anger rushing through him, but he suppressed it, not willing to give the stranger an insight of his feelings.

“Has Anndra Pitark sent you to spy on us?” he asked, keeping his voice and his expression impassive, and the eyes of his counterpart widened a little bit. They were beautiful eyes of an astonishing green-golden color as James could see now when the moon showed itself from behind a thick cloud for a short moment, beautiful eyes in a handsome face that fascinated James deeply. He was almost as tall as James himself was, of slender shape and dressed with something that looked like an uniform to him, made of a shimmering black and yellow-golden material. The jacket was stained and had some small holes in it, and James could see some dark bruises on the smooth skin, one on his jaw and one on his cheekbone, so the stranger must have had an accident or so. Perhaps he'd rather been involved in a fight, this was hard to tell by the darkness surrounding them.

His boots were black as well, and he favored his left foot and put most of his weight onto it as he stood there still without moving, but James recognized a well-trained fighter when he saw one, and it was clear to see that the other man was willing to defend himself with everything he had and without being considerate of his possible injuries.

“Answer my question!” James demanded in a dangerously quiet voice when the other man did nothing than just continue to stare at him. “You're on my territory, the territory of the Tristone Domain, and I will not ask you again!” He was an Alpha, and the intruder was not, his natural scent too light and unobtrusive for even an Alpha who had not presented so far. He was definitely younger than James, a couple of years perhaps, but he was too old for not having presented yet, and James felt a slight sting of disappointment that he must be a Beta. There were too few Omegas living in the Nine Domains, their numbers decreasing with every decade that passed, but James would probably have preferred another Alpha to fight with, even though it was unlikely that Anndra Pitark would send an Alpha to spy on him. It was hard for Betas to control the normally much stronger Alphas anyway, and even harder when they were far away and out of reach.

James had heard rumors about Pitark using some kind of technology to control the Alphas living in his Domain, but he didn't have any proof that those rumors were right, and the green-golden eyes looking at him were sharp and focused and not vacant and dull like the eyes of someone being under mind-control would probably look like.

“Nobody sent me to spy on you,” the owner of those fascinating eyes now spoke up, meeting James' gaze openly. “My name is Captain Daniel Spark, and I crashed not far away from here with my ship. I was on my way to search for someone who could help me, and I'd be grateful if you were willing to offer me shelter and some water, food and medical help perhaps.”

Captain Daniel Spark how the man called himself looked indeed more hopeful than threatening now, he even tried a cautious smile, but James was not willing to believe his words just like that. Another loud thunderclap reminded him of the acute danger they were in because of the storm though, and James made his decision and whistled for his faithful stallion. Thunder galloped towards them with a neigh, and Captain Daniel Spark's eyes lit up when the black horse stopped beside him.

“I will take you with me back to my castle, but don't think that I'm willing to believe your words just like that because I don't. You can't have crashed with a ship as the sea is on the other side of the Tristone cliffs, and you would never have survived such a crash because of the storm and the huge waves. Apart from that you came from where Anndra Pitark's Domain Ravennest lies, so don't even try to fool me,” James informed him, waving at Joe and Shane who had waited for new orders silently and without moving, watching the path and the dark forest to be prepared in case that more of Pitark's men would show up.

The other man stared at him, and he sighed and lowered his stick down. He looked exhausted and as if he was in pain, but he kept himself upright and didn't bat an eye when James stalked closer until he could touch him when he reached out with his hand.

“It's not that kind of ship – not meant to sail on the water. We call it ship, but it is actually a vessel that flies through space.” James just snorted at this weak attempt to confuse him, and Daniel remained silent for a few seconds, but he shook his head when James pointed at the small device in his hand. “We can't communicate any longer if you take this away from me. It's a translator,” he tried to explain, and James hesitated. He sounded sincere and exhausted, and he clung to the blinking thing as if it was his lifeline, but he didn't look as if he was about to attack him with that.

Joe and Shane came closer, and Joe frowned when he looked at the device. “We still don't know whether or not this thing is a weapon Lord McBride. It could cause great damage within the walls. Perhaps he came here at Lord Pitark's command to let himself be caught - just to get access to Castle Tristone and use this weapon there,” he said, but James didn't think that he was right with that.

“I need this instrument to scan plants and animals on other worlds in order not to get poisoned, and it's also a translator as I said before,” the stranger who was not so strange to James anymore said, “your language actually sounds like a dialect of an ancient language that has been spoken on my home planet centuries ago, but I'll need my translator to talk to you until I've learned to speak your language at least partly.”

He pressed one of the buttons and waited until the lights went dark before he spoke up again, and James stared at him in surprise because he suddenly couldn't understand him any longer at all. Daniel Spark had a smooth and pleasant voice that sounded even better without the device, and his mother tongue sounded slightly familiar and beautiful, but James didn't know what he was saying. He stared back and forth between the device and the young man holding it, and he nodded tersely after a moment or two, jerking his head at the small casket-like gadget in Daniel's hand. “You can keep it for now,” he said, and Daniel seemed to understand what he meant and smiled gratefully when he pressed the button to switch the translator on again.

“Thank you. I didn't come here to harm anyone,” he said, “I really need help until my own people will come here to pick me up again, and I will explain everything to you and answer all of your questions as best as I can Lord McBride,” he said, picking up on the formal addressing Joe always used in front of strangers and visitors of the other Domains. Lewis, Joe and Shane were allowed to call him by his first name when they were alone, but they never took advantage of the trust he put in them, and they never crossed the fine line between familiarity and impudence.

“We need to get back, the storm is getting worse,” he decided when the next thunderclap made the horses balk. “You will sit before me, Thunder can carry both of us for the rather short way back to my castle.”

Daniel nodded, offering his palm to Thunder to let him sniff on it. James' beautiful stallion craned his shiny neck and rubbed his nostrils against the hand of the young stranger with a snort. He seemed to like what he could smell, and he stood perfectly still when Daniel mounted him with one elegant move that gave his experience with this kind of locomotion away. Whoever Daniel Spark was and wherever he came from, he apparently was familiar with horses and knew how to ride them, which confirmed James' suspicion that he must be a fighter, and that James would better not let him out of sight and his own guard slip for even a few seconds.

Horses were precious, and only high ranking members of the Nine Domains were allowed to have horses and ride them. Other people had to content themselves with the smaller and much slower stocky Cherrins, pack animals with horns on their heads and an even-tempered nature. They could carry heavy loads over long distances, and they were much easier to handle even for inexperienced riders than vivid horses.

“You came here without your own horse? It's obvious that you are a horse rider yourself,” James asked when he mounted Thunder behind Daniel, and the handsome young man turned his head to look at him from over his shoulder. “Yes, I know how to ride, I grew up with horses. But I came here with a spaceship – just like I'd already told you before, Lord McBride. I am aware that you have probably never seen a spaceship in your whole life, but I can prove to you that I'm speaking the truth – we only need to ride in this direction. It won't take long, and I can show you my ship and prove to you that I wasn't lying to you.”

“We'll see, Daniel Spark, we'll see.” James knew that it was foolish to listen to the other man's words and do what he wanted him to do. Pitark's men were probably already waiting for them at the border to his territories, but he didn't want to risk that the fascinating stranger had perhaps spoken the truth, and that Anndra Pitark got his hands on this 'ship' before James had the chance to see it for himself – whatever kind of ship it was.

Shane and Joey opened their mouths to protest, but James ignored them and took Thunder's reins to ride in the opposite direction of where Castle Tristone was sitting on top of the cliffs, Daniel's lithe body pressing against his own. Feeling the beautiful stranger so close stirred something in him and woke the powerful Alpha in him, but James fought against his instincts, not willing to let a Beta come too close to him. He was the strongest Alphas of the Nine Domains, and no Beta could ever give him what he needed and wanted.

No, James Arthur McBride, Mormear of Tristone, wouldn't rest until he had found the Omega who was meant to become his true mate, and he wouldn't fall for a Beta who could never really satisfy him, no matter how fascinating and tempting Daniel Spark might be.

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't be silent readers, but leave kudos and comments, feedback is love and the best reward possible! <33


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